Between Foxrock And A Hard Place

Olympia Theatre, Dublin Previews Oct 15-19 Opens Oct 20-Nov 14 8pm 25-49.50

Generally, a satire loses its bite the closer it gets to its target, or, very rarely, if it outlives its prey. Ross O’Carroll Kelly seems to have done both, and yet his output is undiminished. First appearing during the boom years and adapting to the Irish economy’s ruinous collapse, Paul Howard’s creation commands unswerving affection from precisely the people he lampoons.

There’s been no dip in the Ross market. Hot on the heels of Howard’s latest novel, The Oh My God Delusion, Ross now returns in his second stage play, as though he is the barometer for a beleaguered nation: will he recover his fortunes or does he have further to fall?

2008's The Last Days of the Celtic Tigerwas a storming success, with archly funny characterisation from Rory Nolan as Ross, Rory Keenan as his criminal son, Ronan (here replaced by the talented Laurence Kinlan) and Lisa Lambe as his long-suffering, light-thinking, on-again, off- again love interest, Sorcha, even if the play took a mechanical approach to plotting.

This time around, the social order and status symbols are still in terrifying flux (Foxrock is being rezoned as Sandyford East), and the plot sounds like a caper involving a crooked scheme, a lobbyist, a suitcase full of dosh and a masked gunman. Gunman? Might this finally be the end for the Ledge? I think we can hazard a guess.

Can’t See That? Catch This

Orphans Focus Theatre,

Dublin